Ben & me : in search of a founder's formula for a long and useful life / Eric Weiner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weiner, Eric, 1963- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Statesmen--United States--Biography.

Statesmen.

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790.

Franklin, Benjamin.

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790--Homes and haunts.

Weiner, Eric, 1963---Travel.

Weiner, Eric.

Genre:

Biographies.

Travel writing.

Physical Description:

xviii, 313 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Avid Reader Press hardcover edition.

Other Title:

Ben and me

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC, 2024.

Summary:

"New York Times bestselling author Eric Weiner follows in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin, mining his life for inspiring and practical lessons in a book that's part biography, part travelogue, part personal prescription"-- Provided by publisher.

Ben Franklin lingers in our lives and in our imaginations. One of only two non-presidents to appear on US currency, Franklin was a founder, statesman, scientist, inventor, diplomat, publisher, humorist, and philosopher. He believed in the American experiment, but Ben Franklin's greatest experiment was...Ben Franklin. In that spirit of betterment, Eric Weiner embarks on an ambitious quest to live the way Ben lived. Not a conventional biography, Ben & Me is a guide to living and thinking well, as Ben Franklin did. It is also about curiosity, diligence, and, most of all, the elusive goal of self-improvement. As Weiner follows Franklin from Philadelphia to Paris, Boston to London, he attempts to uncover Ben's life lessons, large and small. We learn how to improve a relationship with someone by inducing them to do a favor for you--a psychological phenomenon now known as The Ben Franklin Effect. We learn about the printing press (the Internet of its day), early medicine, diplomatic intrigue and, of course, electricity. And we learn about ethics, persuasion, humor, regret, appetite, and so much more. At a time when history is either neglected or contested, Weiner argues we have much to learn from the past and that we'd all be better off if we acted and thought a bit more like Ben did, even if he didn't always live up to his own high ideals. Engaging, smart, moving, quirky, Ben & Me distills the essence of Franklin's ideas into grounded, practical wisdom for all of us.

Contents:

Introduction: Alien Ben

Resting Ben

Baby Ben

Bookish Ben

Empirical Ben

Masked Ben

Grounded Ben

Wandering Ben

Resilient Ben

Homeward Ben

Fluid Ben

Social Ben

Habitual Ben

Textual Ben

Curious Ben

Funny Ben

Buddha Ben

Naked Ben

Angry Ben

Reflective Ben

Decisive Ben

Busy Ben

Full Ben

Floating Ben

Doubting Ben

Belated Ben

Eternal Ben

Epilogue: Beyond Ben.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-302) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Weiner, Eric, 1963- Ben & me

ISBN:

9781501129049

150112904X

9781501129056

1501129058

OCLC:

1405187703

Publisher Number:

99996717101